


A Soft Kiss, Gentle and Shy

by nagi_schwarz



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Boys Kissing, M/M, a bit depressing, un-beta'd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-10-26
Updated: 2006-10-26
Packaged: 2018-05-26 07:03:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6228529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz





	A Soft Kiss, Gentle and Shy

Harry sat down on the cold stone floor, wand dangling limply from one hand, and sighed.

"I think it's useless, Cedric," he said. "No matter what I do, unless you have some sort of fantastically happy memory, the Patronus Charm won't work."

Cedric rubbed his face with one hand. "It's not that I haven't had a happy life, but all the memories I've tried haven't been working."

"Well...it doesn't necessarily need to be a real memory," Harry hedged.

Cedric cast him a sidelong glance. "What do you mean?"

Harry shrugged one shoulder. "It's just that - the memory I use, I'm not really sure it's a memory. But it's solid in my mind, and it works."

"Huh." Cedric nibbled on his bottom lip. "What about a dream I've had? A vivid, happy dream that I can hold in my head, as strong as a memory?"

"I don't know..." Harry's brow furrowed as he thought about it. "Maybe. Imagine it, focus on it, and then try casting the charm."

Cedric closed his eyes and let the images form in his mind.

"Focus on it." Harry's voice seemed closer suddenly. "Live it. Try to be in it."

A gentle warmth began to spread through Cedric's limbs, and he relaxed, sinking against the wall.

"That's it," Harry breathed. "Now, draw on the magic of the memory, and cast the spell."

Cedric opened his eyes. In a low voice he said, " _Expecto patronum_ ," and a silvery-white falcon shot out of the end of his wand. It wheeled in the air, wings spread wide, and came to land on the windowsill of the classroom. Cedric sat up straighter, eyes wide. Something in him trembled when the bird turned and looked at him with its fierce mercury eyes. He stretched out one hand, as if to caress its feathers, and it shot into the sky, dissipating into silver mist.

Harry clapped him on the shoulder. "That was excellent, mate! What kind of bird was it? A hawk?"

"A peregrine falcon - small and fast," Cedric said.

"Wicked." Harry grinned. "So what was the happy memory?"

"It was a dream," Cedric said. Then he leaned over and kissed Harry on the mouth.

The other boy went utterly still.

It was a soft kiss, gentle, and shy.

After a moment, Harry broke away. He scrubbed his mouth with the back of his hand and eyed Cedric suspiciously, green eyes narrow.

"Why did you kiss me?"  
Cedric sat back on his haunches, at a loss for words. He shrugged, helplessly, but something in him cracked when Harry scrubbed his mouth once more. He pushed himself to his feet and backed away, wand clutched tightly in one hand.

"Is that what this was all for, then?" He gestured wildly at their surroundings, at the classroom they had cleared for spell practice. "Did you just want to get me alone, or did you finally get up the courage to - to - to _attack_ me?"

Cedric shook his head. He felt strangely calm inside, and then he realized that it wasn't calm but numb. Something in him was shutting off.

"I'm sorry, Harry." He stood up, and Harry fell back a step. Cedric reached out, then let his hand drop to his side. It was pointless. "I don't know why I kissed you. I didn't mean to - " I didn't meant to fall in love with you. He wasn't going to say it, not now.

"Didn't mean to kiss me?" Harry cried. He sounded slightly hysterical. "People don't just fall on each other's mouths."

Cedric reached up and tugged on his hair, frustrated. What could he possibly say to make this better?

"If you want me to leave you alone after this, I'll understand."

Harry's green eyes were full of anger. "I trusted you, Cedric. Everyone does. You're the nice boy at school. You don't lie, you don't cheat - and then you do this?" He threw his hands up in disbelief. "All this time, when you offered to help me learn spells for the tournament, you were lying to me, and biding your time."

Cedric bowed his head. There was nothing he could say to fix this.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, because I'm not that vindictive. But yeah - stay away from me." Harry backed up a few more steps, turned, and walked out the door.

Cedric sank back down to the floor and stared at his hands.

***

Something prickled across the back of Cedric's neck, and he turned. A dark figure reared up from the shadows and hedges, and he fired off a spell without thinking.

_"Expecto patronum!"_

All that emerged was a weak trickle of grey mist before the figure became Krum.

In the seconds before the _crucio_ hit, Cedric thought to himself, _I should have know that spell wouldn't work now. My happy dream ended weeks ago._

And then his nerves were on fire, and that didn't matter anymore.

Of course Harry would save him, because no matter how much he hated Cedric, he was a decent boy. Cedric thanked him quietly, and they split up again.

***

He could see the faint glow of the Cup at the end of the row, but the vines were circling his throat tighter and tighter, and his vision was starting to go grey at the edges. Harry stood, poised in indecision, a few meters away.

"Just go," Cedric whispered. It would be easier this way if Harry just went on and left him behind. The tournament would be over, Cedric could go away for the summer, and when he came back he would finish school, and then never see Harry Potter again.

Then flashes of light broke through, and the vines receded. Harry helped Cedric to his feet, careful not to touch him too much, and then they took off running.

They arrived at the cup at the same time.

"Take it," Cedric shouted. "You saved me - take it!" Go on without me, and forget me.

"Together," Harry said.

 _No,_ Cedric thought, but then Harry said, "On three," and Cedric's hand closed over cold metal.

When the world righted itself and Cedric opened his eyes, they were someplace else. A final challenge for the winner, something to assure his or her worthiness? Harry doubled over, clutching his scar, and Cedric moved to steady him, Harry's hatred of him be damned.

A high, cold voice said, "Kill the spare."

 _At least I'm here with him,_ Cedric thought before the green light swallowed him, and then everything went black.

***

_"What about a dream I've had?"_

"Focus on it."

The images began to form. Two boys kneeling on the stone floor of the classroom, one tall and broad-shouldered, just coming into the measure of a man, the other short and slender, still waiting to bloom.

"Cedric, what's going on?"

He lifted a hand and smoothed it over Harry's cheekbone. "Nothing important."

Harry frowned, confused. "I don't understand. Why did you ask me to meet you here?" He didn't pull away from Cedric's touch, and that's what counted.

"I wanted to tell you something," Cedric said, keeping his voice low and carefully neutral. "I didn't want anyone else to hear - not yet."

"Oh." Harry gazed up at him, green eyes wide and innocent. "If it's not important, then why is it such a secret?"

"It's not something I want to share with everyone." Cedric smiled.

Harry considered for a moment. "Well, tell me then. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

"After I'm done telling you, it's up to you who you tell," Cedric said.

Harry squared his shoulders. "All right. Try me."

Cedric took a deep breath.

Voice swirled around him.

Live it. Try to be in it.

"I love you, Harry Potter," Cedric whispered, and kissed him.

It was a soft kiss, gentle and shy.


End file.
